La Vie Boheme
by Broadway-Bohemian
Summary: Placed during RENT. Mark is riding his bike around alphabet city and finds a new friend who becomes the newest Bohemian. MarkOC
1. Rambling

Chapter 1

"Tango," Mark thought. "Terrible dance..." He was riding his bike around Alphabet City. He had just met his ex's new girlfriend at the empty lot turned performance space. Maureen's protest was tomorrow and her new girlfriend had no idea what the hell she was supposed to be doing as production manager. Mark fumbled with his bag, trying to retrieve his camera from its depths. He wasn't watching where he was going and ran into a park bench...with someone sitting on it...

"Oh! Sorry I-" Mark looked up and stopped when he saw who he had run into. It was a beautiful woman who was staring at him through shoulder length brown hair. "I-I'm sorry. I um wasn't paying attention. I should uh start um doing that, huh?"

The woman laughed kindly and said, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Mark quickly answered.

"Um, you're knee's bleeding..." She pointed to his knee and the blood that was soaking through his pants.

"Huh?" Mark looked down at his pants and sure enough blood was beginning to soak through." Oh," he said in an unnaturally high voice. "Look at that. I'm Mark, by the way." He looked up at her. "Mark Cohen."

"It's nice to meet you, Mark. I'm Maggie Connelly. You make films?" She pointed at his camera that somehow had remained undamaged during the bike vs. bench incident.

"Yeah, I do. Documentaries actually. Most people think they're boring. I believe that they tell the story of something that everyone else is afraid to tell."

"Well, what story is your's going to tell?" Maggie asked him with an actual look of interest in her eyes.

"The one I'm working on now is about the homeless people and people inflicted with HIV/AIDS." Maggie's eyes dulled with sadness(?) as Mark mentioned HIV.

"That's a very interesting story to tell."

Mark smiled widely and noticed how dark it was and asked, "So, what brings you out to New York City at night?" He sat down on the bench next to Maggie and waited for her to answer.

"I just got done on the streets and I- I'm not a prostitute Mark!" She told him through laughter when she saw his face. "I'm a street musician. Trumpet and sometimes keyboard. Anyway, its Christmas Eve and I didn't want to go hang out alone at my loft."

"I was going to get something to eat but I changed my mind and just sat here and people watched. Everyone's always so happy at Christmas time..." Maggie smiled which soon turned into a grime as she groaned and said, "I'm doing it again aren't I? I'm blabbering on and on. I do that sometimes. I get to talking about something on and on about it and can't sto-"

She stopped when she saw Mark's amused smile. " There I go again..."

"Don't worry about it. A lot of my friends do it too. It is getting pretty dark, and cold. New York isn't the safest place at night especially around here. Where do you live? I'll walk you home."

"Oh you don't have to-"

"I don't mind really!" Mark smiled a very corny grin and Maggie smiled a small smile.

"That would be very nice, thank you, Mark." They both stood from the bench and Mark grabbed her trumpet case and his camera before he started to follow Maggie the way she was headed. "I live in a loft on Avenue B. I just moved here about four months ago from Illinois." She sneaked a peek at his face to see if he looked interested at all about what she was saying. She was met with a set of bright blue eyes staring back at her looking very interested indeed.

"I, um, went to school back in Illinois at Western University and majored in music and minored in theatre arts. For about a year after graduation I filled in and played inn bands for people. Then I got sick of all that shit and packed up and moved to New York City. Center of the universe!" She spun in a circle with her arms open wide as she exclaimed the last sentence smiling as widely as her face would let her.

"I've only met one other person other than you since I've been here. I really like Alphabet City though. It's nice to live in actual reality instead of Little Town, Illinois for once in my life..."

They continued walking quietly until Mark said, "I understand the feeling of the living in reality part. I used to live in Scarsdale, it's a few hours away from here. I went to Brown University halfway through my Junior year and then dropped out. I couldn't take the perfect lives and "reality" in that world. I moved to the City and moved into a loft with Roger, my friend from High School. Our lofts on Avenue B as well, right next to an empty lot. Which building are you?"

Maggie smiled and said, "Well, it sounds like the same one as you. I'm on the 5th floor."

"I live on the 7th floor, top floor." They approached the building and Mark gave Maggie a cheesy grin before adding, "See, it was no problem walking you home!" She smiled back at him as they started climbing the many sets of stairs.

"Any last minute advice on living in New York?" Maggie asked.

"Well..."not getting mugged is always good..." Mark answered in mock seriousness.

"Aw, shucks, that spoils my plans for tomorrow!" Maggie kidded with him.

He grinned and looked up, thinking and continued. "There's a protest tomorrow night against our landlord given by my turned-lesbian-ex-girlfriend. It's something to do with a cow..."

Maggie looked at him oddly about his ex but he didn't notice, that or he's just immune to it by now. He continued, "There's also a party afterwards at the Life Cafe. Have you ever been there? It's the best place around. Or any time your ever bored you could also come up to the top floor and hang out with some of the coolest people ever."

"And who would that be? I don't know anyone cool from the top floor?" She said with a smirk. "I'll see you tomorrow then? At the protest?"

"Yeah, it's in the empty lot next door and there are posters for it everywhere." Mark headed toward the flight of gave a small wave and smile before saying, "See you tomorrow then!"

Maggie smiled as she headed into her loft with a smile on her face. She smiled and closed her eyes as she closed her door. She leaned against the door and slid down it smiling as wide as ever.


	2. Life Support

Disclaimer: RENT and all of it's characters were created and are owned by Jonathon Larson (R.I.P.)

A/N:

-I would like to make a correction from the first chapter; I wrote that Maureen's protest would be tomorrow, but I am going to make it that night in empty lot next door, at midnight!!!

-I would also like to dedicated all the triple periods (...) in this chapter to AngelMimiCollins.

-The chapter may be short but, i didn't work on my 4-H project as much as my parents think I should have so...I got grounded from Fanfiction, all writing and reading. the site in general. It really sucks.

Maggie walked into her kitchen after locking her door with all four locks. A beeper went off in her pocket. In realization, she swore under her breath and muttered "AZT time..." She grabbed her almost empty bottle off of the counter and filled a glass from the sink up with water before gulping down her pill. She glanced at the clock next to her couch in the living room and said to herself, "Crap, I'm already late for life support."

She went into her brightly lit bedroom and grabbed her coat (very similar to Mimi's except in a pea green color) from her closet. Angel would kill her, she had promised that she would come tonight...and _on time_! Angel was a street musician/drag queen and one of the nicest people someone could ever meet. She was the first person Maggie had met in New York City and they 'collaborated' sometimes and played music together, Angel on her pickle tub and Maggie on her trumpet or keyboard.

Maggie dumped her trumpet case in the kitchen as she searched for a couple dimes for the bus and something to eat. She found enough for a round trip to the meeting and back on the bus, under her couch cushions and an apple in the mini fridge. She rushed out her door, running a block with one hand in her pocket and the other clutching her apple, to the bus stop.

When the bus finally pulled to a stop at her destination, Maggie scurried off, away from the creepy looking old guys who had kept winking at her. _So, that was what Mark meant when he said New York wasn't safe at night..._

She entered the building and passed all the rows of chairs to the circle where everyone was sitting, including Angel without her wig on. Her face grew slightly redder than before as the room quieted down and she felt eyes on her as she walked down the center of the room. She kept her head down and walked so quickly that she did not notice the blonde haired, blue eyed man watching her. She quickly took the seat next to Angel and muttered a quick apology to her as a man stood up and said to Paul, "Excuse me, Paul, I'm having a problem with this-this credo. My

t-cells are low, I regret that news, okay?" Shivers went up Maggie's arms as he continued his story.

Members stood and joined in the singing. "No other road, no other way." A hand gently touched Maggie's shoulder in a comforting way --Angel-- showing that she was there for her. Maggie stood and joined in in the last verse.

"No day but today."


	3. Santa Fe

**Chapter 3:**

The meeting ended after many similar stories and Angel and Collins rose from their chairs. Maggie sat in her chair with her elbows on her knees, staring at the ground, not able to move. Hearing all of those people's stories had given her it seemed a preview, maybe, of the future- her future. Mark was there, standing right behind her, waiting for her to stand. She had noticed him about half-way through the meeting and had had a mini panic attack.

"_He'll know I have HIV now...he won't want anything to do with me . But still...he was at the meeting knowingly. May be he's different from the other guys..." _A nagging voice in the back of her head told her.

"Maggie...?" A voice came from the back of her as a hand softly came into contact with her shoulder. She felt her shoulder tingle as he set his hand on it. "Are you okay?" asked Mark.

She quickly looked up and turned her head to meet his amazingly blue eyes staring into her green ones. "Long time no see," Maggie quietly said before Mark smiled softly and took her hand in his and helped her up. She rose slowly and returned the smile and they quietly exited the building together, never letting go of each other's hands.

Angel, Collins, Mark, and Maggie walked onto the cold streets of New York yet again. Half a block down was a homeless woman laying on the sidewalk, surrounded by cops. Mark retrieved his camera, walked ahead of the others and up to the cops greeting them, "Smile for Ted Koppel, Officer Martin!"

The police officers walk away muttering as the homeless woman rose from the ground yelling to Mark, "Who the ---- do you think you are? I don't need any ------- help from some bleeding heart camera man. My life's not, for you to make a name for yourself on!"

"Easy, sugar, easy" Angel started. "He was just trying to-"

"Just tryin' to use me to kill his guilt! It's not that kind of movie, honey! Let's go, this lot is full of mother ------- artists." The homeless woman walked away with her friend as Mark stood helplessly and Collins, Angel, and Maggie cautiously watched him. He sighed softly and continued walking to the subway station, hands in his pockets and Maggie by his side.

"New York City!" Angel exclaimed.

"Uh-huh..."

"Center of the universe!" Maggie added with a small, secret smile at Mark.

"Sing it girls-" Collins added.

"Times are shitty-"Angel started.

"But I'm pretty sure they can't get worse" Maggie ended with a smirk.

Angel walked forward and shared a small look with Maggie. "It's a comfort to now when you're singing the hit the road blues..."

"That anywhere else you could possibly go after New York would be..." Maggie sang.

She and Angel ran ahead onto the subway together and struck a pose through the window as they both said "A pleasure cruise!"

"Now you're talking!"

SO ON AND SO FORTH, THEY SING SANTE FE!!! THE END...NOT REALLY BUT...

They all walked out of the subway station onto the street and Mark told Collins and Angel, "I'll meet you at the show. I'll try and convince Roger to go. Maggie, do you want to come with? I can formally introduce you to 'Roger the emo boy'?"

He turned toward her as he asked and she nodded and said, "Sure!" They separated from Collins and Angel and starting walking till they heard a voice calling to them ahead of them on their block.

"Hey, Cohen! Wait up!"


	4. In Which We Meet Roger

**A/N: I don't own RENT, I never have and never will, but if any body wants to send me Mark wrapped in a bow for my birthday, I would not object! = D **

A young man in a leather jacket and plaid pajama pants came running up to Mark and Maggie on the sidewalk.

"Roger!" Mark cried, overjoyed to see his best friend outside. "What are you doing?"

'I decided a little fresh air might not hurt any is all." Roger answered with a smirk on his face. Noticing that Maggie was currently standing next to Mark he raised an eyebrow to accompany his growing smirk. "Who's this, Mark?"

"Oh, Roger this is Maggie Connelly, Maggie, this is Roger the emo boy." Noticing the glare Roger was currently giving him he added, "Uh, Davis..."

"It's nice to meet you, Roger," said Maggie who was trying to hold back her laughter that was turning her face red.

"Back at ya, Maggie," Roger said and smiled at Maggie before turning to look at Mark. He stood there with his arms crossed, his head slightly tilted to the right, and a blank look on his face, staring at Mark. Mark looked at him with a kinda-sorta-freaked-out look and an eyebrow raised and stared back at Roger.

Roger continued to stand there doing the same thing he had been.

"WHAT?!" Mark yelled to him with the freaked out expression still on his face.

"Nothing, I just like to freak you out!" Mark sighed and Maggie couldn't stand it any more. She burst out laughing, holding her stomach and trying not to fall over. They both looked at her with amused smiles and Roger asked, "What's so funny?"

She just shook her head and motioned for them to keep walking. Roger and Maggie made small talk as they approached the lot next door to their lofts. Mark finally got Roger to tell them what had happened with Mimi.

"...she said, would you light my candle and she put on a pout and she wanted you to take her out tonight?"

"Right-"

"She got you out!"

"She was more thasn okay but I pushed her away. It was bad, I got mad and I had to get her out of my sight."

"Wait, wait, wait-you said she was sweet."

"Let's go eat, I'll just get fat-"

"It's the one vice left when you're dead meat." Maggie finished for him and he winked at her with a smile.

"Exactly." He pointed down the street to a woman looking around intently for someone and said, "There, that's her."

"Maureen?" Mark asked out of habit.

"Mimi!"

Maggie looked down the street and saw a young beautiful woman in a leapord print coat with long, wavy, brown hair. "Whoa..." Maggie said, impressed.

"I should go-" Roger started.

They all looked up and said, "Hey, it's beginning to snow." Roger walked over to Mimi while Mark and Maggie stood to wait for him.

Maggie looked at Mark and simply said with a smile, "I love the snow."

"Oh, yeah? And why is that?" He asked with an amused expression.

"Well," she thinks for a moment. "As weird as it sounds, I think snow is magical kind of."

"Really? And how is this?" Mark asks, kidding around with her.

"Good things always happen when it snows."

"Really?"

"Really!" She says giggling.

Roger walks back over to them with Mimi Marquez and says, "Mark, Maggie-this is Mimi."

"Hi." The three say simultaneously.

"She'll be dining with us."

"I think we've met..." Mark told Mimi.

She smirked and said, "That's what he said"

They all headed over to the lot and found a spot just as a woman on a motorcycle came roaring in...


	5. Jumping Over The Moon

**A/N: I don't own RENT or any of it's characters, I just finally moved on from Barbies and played with these people instead!**

"Last night, I had a dream: I found myself in a desert called Cyberland. It was hot.  
My canteen had sprung a leak and I was thirsty," a young woman with long, curly, brown hair said with wide eyes. She looked out at the crowd and saw Maggie standing next to (and quite close to) her ex-boyfriend, Mark, wondered about it for a moment before continuing.

"Out of the abyss walked a cow, Elsie. I asked if she had anything to drink, she said, 'I'm forbidden to produce milk, In Cyberland we only drink Diet Coke.'" The word 'Coke' echoed through the lot full of homeless people and bohemians, a chuckle arising from both groups of people.

"She said, 'Only thing to do is jump over the moon.' They've closed everything real down, Like barns and troughs and Performing Spaces, And replaced it all with lies, and rules, and Virtual Life. But there is a way out."

Maureen was getting more excited as the protest continued, as was the audience. Maggie looked over at Mark and saw him holding his camera, taping the whole protest. Maggie smiled at him as he turned and whispered in her ear, "She's a bit odd at first...actually she is all the time but you get used to her more after a while." Maggie laughed and turned back to Maureen as Mark turned back to his camera.

"Only thing to do is jump over the moon." Maureen stopped and looked through the crowd, her eyes lingering on everyone's favorite bohos, before taking a huge breath and continuing, "I gotta get outta here! It's like I'm being tied to the hood of  
a yellow rental truck, bein' packed in with fertilizer and fuel oil, pushed over a cliff by a suicidal Mickey Mouse! I gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta find a way...To jump over the moon. Only thing to do is jump over the moon." Maggie was cheering and laughing along with the crowd.

Roger muttered, "I always knew she was crazy..." To no one in particular and it was only heard by Maggie. She turned and gave him a wink after he realized she had heard him. He smirked and turned back to Maureen who was currently mocking Benny, their landlord.

The protest continued without a trace of trouble. Maureen let out a large slurping sound at which Maggie completely lost it and laughed uncontrollably while holding her stomach for the second time that day. She wasn't alone in the laughter as the lot burst into laughter.

"'Climb on board!' She said. And as the harvest moon rose over Cyberland, we reared back, we sprang into a gallop, leaping, out of orbit; I awoke singing"

"Only thing to do, Only think to do is jump,Only thing to do is jump Over the moon Only thing to do is jump Over the moon Over the moon Over the ...MOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Moo with me! Come on sir, moo with me! Moo! Mooo! MOOO! MOOOOOO!"

The crowd cautiously erupted in moos before becoming more confident in the protestation **(a/n: not a word. i made it up!)** and mooed louder. Suddenly, a small fight broke out between two officers and a man in the crowd. Without being fully able to comprehend it, a riot had started and Maggie was being pulled out of the way of an officer by Mark who looked at her with a worried expression on his face, silently asking if she was okay. He continued to tape the riot as he pulled Maggie by the arm out of the lot and onto the cold, dark, street where everyone was scurrying away from the building to insure they weren't arrested or hurt.

Mark pulled Maggie around the corner and started to slow down as they walked. "Are you okay?" He asked as they continued walking in the direction of 'big city office buildings.'

"Yeah, I'm fine," Maggie said as she pulled an inhalor out of her jean pocket. She shakily put it in her mouth and dispensed the albuterol. "Just out of breath."

"Do you need to sit down and catch your breath or something?"

"No, I'll be fine. This," she motioned to her inhalor," Happens all the time." Maggie took a look at her surroundings and asked Mark, "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking the tape of the protest and the riot down to the news station. I take stuff to them all the time but they usually don't show it. Because of the riot and everything with the police, I'm hoping they might use part of it somewhere. It's the first building on this next block," he said as they crossed the street.

Maggie looked up into the large office windows going twenty-some floors up. She was suddenly intimidated by them even though she had been in some before, back in Illinois. They entered and Mark led the way to the elevator before motioning to Maggie to enter ahead of him.

A secretary motioned Mark into an office on the 21st floor of the building. Maggie waited in the lobby as Mark went in to deal with some 'big fancy business prick.' He came out of the office approxiametly 8.5 (not like Maggie was counting) minutes later with a smile on his face. He walked over to Maggie as she stood up and he said, "They bought it. It's the lead story on the news tonight and tomorrow."

"Congratulations!" Maggie exclaimed as she hugged Mark. He hugged her back before they akwardly broke apart. They stared at each other before Mark started,

"Everyone's expecting us at the Life Cafe, we should probably head over there."

"Sounds good to me!" Maggie said as they started walking down the hall towards the elevator.


	6. To Days Of Inspiration

A/N: I don't own RENT...or a Mark scarf...but I'm working on it!!!

Maggie and Mark walked together into the Life Cafe but before Maggie could even take in the surroundings, they were seen.

"Oh my gosh, are you guys alright?" was one of the many questions they were asked as everyone- for lack of better word- ambushed them.

"We're fine, we're fine!" Mark told the group. "Tomorrow," he continued. "On the news, the lead story all day is going to be Maureen's protest." The group all cheered loudly and some patted him on the back.

Maureen squealed and asked him in a very high, excited voice, "Are you serious?" Mark nodded and she planted a large kiss on his lips before another woman pulled her off of him. They all headed farther into the resturaunt before the matre'd stopped them.

"No, please no, not tonight, please no, mister, can't you go? Not tonight, can't have a scene!"

"What?" Mark asked him, as he was in the front of the group and was the one mainly being blocked, as Roger and Mimi walked around them.

"No please, sir, you- hello, sir! I said no! Important customer!" The young man pointed toward Benny Coffin III, Maggie's landlord, and another man sitting together at a table.

"What am I, just a blur?" Mark asked him, slightly offended.

"You sit all and never buy!" The man continued in an annoyed voice.

"That's a lie, that's a lie! I had a tea the other day," he continued matter-of-factly.

"You couldn't pay," the worker said in a dead pan voice.

Maggie giggled slightly next to Mark as Mark cocked his head to side and said, "Oh, yeah," before passing by the man with the rest of the group. Mark and Maggie looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and laughed slightly before finding seats at the end of the table. They ended up with Mark sitting on the end and Maggie on his right. Mimi was sitting next to Maggie and gabbering away at Roger while Angel and Collins sat across from Maggie and Mark, randomly making funny faces at them.

Maureen, on the other side of the table stood from the table and said to everyone, while looking at Benny, "The enemy, of Avenue A." She gasped before adding, "and Mr. Gray!"

"Why, thanks..."

"What brings the mogul in his own mind to the life cafe?" Collins asked.

"Why didn't Muffy-"

"Allison!" Benny interrupted Roger.

"-come along?" he continued.

"There was a death in the family if you must know..."

Roger backed down but Angel asked sympathetically, "Who died?"

"Our akita..."

Everyone at the table looked at each other, all wondering the same thing. Roger and Mark stared each other down before both figuring it out and said, "Evita!" A woman down the table imitated a little yappy dog bark.

Benny scowled and sang, "Mimi, Maggie! I'm suprised, that bright an' charming girls like you hang out with these slackers who don't adher to deals. You make fun, yet I'm the one, attempting to do some good. Or do you really want a neighborhood where people piss on your stoop every night. Bohemia, bohemias, a fallacy in your head. This is Calcutta. Bohemia, is dead." Benny turned and walked back to his table- and Mark followed, mocking him, to the end of the table.

"Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes." Roger and Collins stand and hold hands in 'prayer' and sing in Latin. "Here she lies, no one knew her worth. The late great daughter of mother Earth. On these nights when we celebrate the birth. In that little town of Bethlehem, we raise our glass, you bet you ass to, La Vie Boheme."

"La Vie Boheme!" The rest of the table burst into song as well as Mark stood up from his sitting position on the table.

"To days of inspiration, playing hooky, making something out of nothing the need to express to communicate! To going against the grain, going insane, going mad!" Mark jumped onto the table and started singing while everyone else at the table, including Maggie, did back up vocals and danced. "To loving tension, no pension, to more than one demension, to starving for attention, hating convention, hating pretension! Not to mention, of course, hating dear old mam and dad!"

Maggie laughed as everyone got up and started dancing. She went to sit by Mark on the table and mimicked riding a bikes with him as he continued singing, "To riding your bike midday past the three piece suits!" They got up and started dancing on the table. "To fruits! To no absolutes!"

"TO ABSOLUT!" Maggie added as she held up her drink and jumped down from the table.

Mark laughed and continued, "To choice, to the Village Voice, to any passing fad!" He went over to Maggie and Roger and put his arm around them, facing Benny and Mr. Grey. "To being an us for a once, instead of a them!" Mark pointed at Benny and Mr. Grey while Maggie and Roger flipped them off on either side of him.

"La Vie Boheme!"

"Is the equipment in a pyramid?" Asked Maureen from down the table.

"It is Maureen," said a dark skinned woman who had run the spotlight and electric...stuff...at the protest.

"The mixer doesn't have a case," Maureen said with a wince. "Don't give me that face!" She said as the other woman turned and began to walk away. Maureen hit her ass as she walked away which caused her to turn around with a smile. Mr. Grey cleared his throat and Maureen told him, "Hey, mister, she's my sister!"

"So that's five miso soup, four seaweed salad, three soy burger dinner, two tofu dag platter, and one pasta with meatless balls?" The waiter asked after he had taken everyone's orders.

"Ewww..."Roger said from beside Maggie after everyone had finally sat down.

"It tastes the same!" Collins told him defensively.

"If you close your eyes!" Mimi shot back with a smile and a giggle.

"And thirteen orders of fries, is that it here?" the waiter continued.

"WINE AND BEER!"

Angel and Mimi jumped onto the table and started singing, "To handcrafted beers made in local breweries! To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese! To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo! To Huevos Rancheros and Maya Angelou!" They sat back down as Collins and Maureen got up and sang.

"Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion, creation vacation."

Mark looked straight into Benny's eyes as he smirked and said "Mucho masturbation!"

Maggie laughed and spit out her drink before Mark explained. "Benny's room used to be right next to mine...and the walls are thin. I really am scarred for life!" Maggie laughed even harder as Roger and Collins got on the table and sang.

"Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham and Cage! Lenny Bruse, Langston Hughes!"

"To the stage!" Maggie yelled.

"To Uta, to Buddha, Pablo Neruda too!"

Mark got up as Maggie stood on the table (as Dorothy and Mark as Toto) while singing, "Why Dorothy and Tot went over the rainbow, to blow off Auntie Em!" Maggie jumped off the table and high-fived Mark.

"La Vie Boheme!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"And wipe the speakers off before you pack!" Maureen told the other woman, Joanne, Maggie had come to find out.

"Yes, Maureen," she said with a sigh.

"Well, hurry back!" Maureen pulled Joanne in for a kiss.

"Sister?" Mr. Grey asked, causing them to break apart.

"We're close." They said dead-pan both wearing a smirk on their faces.

Mark and Maggie went on either side of the anarchist and drag queen as Collins lay on the table and Angel on top of him. "Brothers!" The four of them shouted to Benny and Mr. Grey.

"Bisexuals, trisexuals, Homosapiens, Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee Wee Herman! German wine, turpentine Gertrude Stein, Antonioni Bertulucci, Kurosawa, Carmina Burana!" Everyone was on their feet as they sang and Mr. Grey, it seemed, was getting fed up. He rose from his table and gave Benny a look before quickly leaving.

"To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy! Vaclav Havel, the sex pistols, 8BC! To no shame never playing the fame game!"

Collins and Maggie jumped on the table and knelt down, striking a pose that looked like the were smoking..."To marijuana!"

"To sodomy! It's between God and me! To S&M!"

"Waiter! Waiter!"

"La Vie Boheme!!!!!!" Everyone at the table belted as Benny ran out of the restaraunt.

'Introductions,' Maggie supposed you could call them, were given by everyone, and about EVERYONE at the table. Maggie accompanied Angel on Angel's plastic pickle tub as she strutted down the table like a runway. Roger and Mimi had disappeared from the group right as Maggie's beeper went off.

"Damn..." Maggie muttered to herself as she looked for her water bottle in her purse and then on the table.

"Here," Came a voice from behind her. Mark was standing behind her with a bottle of water and Maggie smiled softly at him as she took it. Mark sat down next to her as she popped the AZT in her mouth and put the cap back on the water bottle.

"So," Mark said. "What's wrong?"

Maggie looked up quickly with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Well," He started. "You seemed a little upset at the meeting...I mean, you didn't look at anyone or even put your head up...And then tonight too. You were so happy until the beeper went off and then as soon as it did you looked, oh, i don't know really. Just kind of upset or like something was really bothering you, I guess...I don't mean to be nosy or anything! I just- I uh..." A small smirk began growing on Maggie face at the last couple of sentences.

She said, "I dunno...it's just this thing I guess. It's like handcuffs or something holding me back from things all the time. I just wish it would go away." Her smirk had turned into a sad smile by now. "Some people are crazy and if they find out you have HIV they don't want to be around you anymore because they either think they're going to 'catch' it or they judge you and decide you're a slut because you have it. And neither of those are true, with me at least. And starting out somewhere new and then meeting all these people tonight makes me worry about losing them. Because, I already know that these are good people and...I don't know," Magie sighed and then smiled slightly. "I'm not making any sense, am I?" She laughed a little and said, "It's the alchohol. I'll blame it on that!"

Mark smiled and said, "Well, I don't think you're gonna lose any of us anytime soon. This is like an initiation of some sort! You're stuck with us forever!" They both laughed and he held out his hand to her. She took it with a smile and they walked back over to the main table and sat down just as Roger and Mimi walked back in from the snow.

Roger and Mimi kissed and Maggie and Mark raised their eyebrows at each other. Everyone wolf whistled or cheered (Collins went over and slapped Roger on his buttox, cause ing them to separate. Mimi jumped up on the table as everyone shouted, "To dance!"

"No way to make a living massochisms, pain, perfection, muscle spasms, chiropractors, short careers, eating disorders!"

"Film!"

Mark sang, "Adventure, tedium, no family, boring location, dark rooms, perfect faces, egos, money, Hollywood and Sleaze!"

"Music!" Angel and Maggie jumped onto the table and started dancing together.

"Food of love, emotion, mathematics, isolations, rythm, power, feeling harmony and heavy competition!"

"Anarchy! Revolution, justice screaming for solutions, forcing changes risk and danger, making noise or making pleas!"

"To faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross-dressers to!"

"To me, to me, to me, to me!"

"To you and you and you and you and you!"

"To people living with living with living with- not dieing from disease! Let he among us with out sin be the first to condemn!"

"La Vie Boheme!" Everyone was dancing on the tables and the ground as Mark sang on his own.

"VIVA LA VIE BOHEME!"

-------------------------------------------------


	7. Merry Christmas uh witches!

A/N: Sorry its been a while, school started again and I've been busy. If you ever get bored because I'm not here, unlikely but still, you should go check out my friend Castell's story. It's pretty great. Soooooooo....yeah...

Song of the day: "Just Like I Am" - Adam Pascal

"Go Grease lightning your burning down the quarter mile!"

"Grease lightnin, go grease lightnin'!" Maggie backed up Maureenn's killer (um, slurry) vocals as they sang show tunes, much to the amusement of everyone else. Angel, Collins, Maureen, Mark and Maggie were the only ones left sitting at the table at the Life. Roger and Mimi had long since left to do who knows what. Joanne had left about an hour ago claiming she was drunk enough as it was. It was a little after 3 AM, Christmas morning and the table they were sitting at was littered with empty glasses, cans, plates, and bottles.

"Well," Mark started with a slight slur. "It's kinda late."

"Or early, depending how you look at it..." Maggie added accompanied by a yawn. They all stood from the table and Angel slammed down a large wad of bills. Not exactly sure how much money she had just given the waiter, she grabbed onto Collins arm.

"We'll see you guys in a few hours, I guess," Collins said as he turned and walked away with Angel who waved good-bye.

"Umm...Mo?" Mark asked cautiously. "Are you okay?" He looked down at the drama queen who had sat back down and put her head on the table.

Maureen looked up and stood facing Mark. She unexpectedly put her arms around Mark and hugged the camera man. "I love you, Marky. Thanks for caring about me. Mark looked uncomfortable until she let go of him and once again, unexpectedly moved on to Maggie and hugged her. "I'm probably not going to remember you or anything we did in the morning but I want you to know I love you."

"Uh, thanks, Maureen," Maggie said hugging her back. They seperated and she asked, "Can you get home?"

"Yeah, Jo left me money for a cab."

"Okay then, " Mark said. "We better get going, we'll see you in a bit."

"Mhmm..." Maureen said as they went their seperate ways.

Mark and Maggie left the Life and started walking towards Avenue B. Maggie shivered in the cold Christmas morning wind and Mark put his arm around her. She leaned into him and they walked in silence comfortably down the almost empty New York sidewalks. Maggie quietly laughed and Mark asked her what was so funny.

She looked up at him and said with a puzzled look, "I'm not quite sure..." Mark laughed quietly along with her. Soon enough they reached the apartments on Avenue B and Mark walked Maggie to her door before heading up to his loft.

"Tonight was fun," Mark told her as they reached the landing.m "I hope my friends didn't scar you too badly."

Maggie laughed and said, "No, it was fun. They weren't too scary! Maureen's a little out there but other than that..."

Mark laughed along with her and told her, "We all usually hang out in the loft on holidays. You're welcome to join us if you like. I think Maureen will expect you to be there tomorrow, she might cry if you're not."

"Oh, so Maureen's the only one who wants me there?" Maggie asked with a smirk.

"Well, I want you there too..." Mark blushed slightly and Maggie smiled softly at him.

"Well, then I guess I have no choice, do I?"

"Nope!" Mark moved closer to Maggie who was standing in her doorway. Their eyes met and they slowly leaned forward. Their lips met and Maggie relaxed into the kiss.

'Now this is something I could get used to...'

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"Merry Christmas, bitches!" Collins burst into the loft next to Angel to see a certain blonde albino pumpkin head asleep on the duct-taped couch in the clothes he wore last night. "Hey, albino boy! Wake up!" Collins tiptoed (and looked quite ridiculous) over to the couch and started yelling into Mark's ear.

Angel watched the two with her head leaned to the left in thought. "He's not dead is he?" asked Angel's voice from the corner of the room.

"Nah, he just sleeps like a rock..." Collins told her as he walked to the end of the couch were Mark's right foot was sticking out from under the blanket he had grabbed from the floor the night before. Collins carefully took two fingers and flicked the bottom of Mark's foot.

Mark yelped as he woke up and quickly sat up. Collins roared with laughter and choked out, "Works every time!"

"Will you please turn down the volume a few notches, please?" Mark asked as he dragged himself off of the couch.

"Why, does someone have a slight hangover?" Collins asked as Mark retreated into the bathroom. Before the door closed a middle finger was spotted by both Collins and Angel who shook her head and laughed. As the bathroom door closed the loft door opened. Roger walked in holding hands with Mimi.

"We're not late, are we?" Roger asked.

"Does it look like anyone else is here dumbass?" Collins asked with a laugh.

"Where's Mark? Did he stay the night with Maggie last night?" Mimi hit Roger on the arm and Collins laughed. Angel then proceeded to lightly swat Collins arm.

"No," Angel started. "He's in the bathroom. He was asleep on the couch when we got here." Angel and Mimi went to sit down on the couch as Collins settled on the floor. The loft door opened again and Maureen walked in with Joanne.

"Well, hohoho...!" Collins said while pointing to Maureen. She struck a pose before sitting on a chair across from the couch next to Joanne. Mark silently walked out of the bathroom in fresh clothes and went straight into the kitchen, closely followed by Roger.

"So, how'd things go with Maggie last night?" Roger asked him as they entered the small kitchen.

"Fine..." Mark answered, not particularly enjoying where this conversation was going.

"Since when have you ever shut up about this kind of stuff?"

"Since when have you become a teenage girl?" Mark shot back at him with a slight smirk as they dug through all of the cupboards. Everyone had been bringing by random food items for a couple of weeks now, Collins the night before was a lot of help. Cereal, coffee, hot chocolate, stoli, beer, frosting, crackers, bananas, apples, and other food was piled out on the counter top.

"Did you get any?"

"Roger!"

"Seriously, Mark. Did'ya?"

"No, I did not, thank you very much." Mark said.

Roger smirked and asked Mark, "Well, why the hell not?"

"Because I just met her you moron!"

"Whatever," Roger said and rolled his eyes. "Is she coming over this morning?"

"Yeah, I think so. I don't know when though..."

"Ah, well," Roger said as they entered the living room with everyone else. "She'll be here eventually."

"Who'll be here eventually?" Maureen piped in with a curious look.

"Maggie," Mark told her.

Maureen had a puzzled look on her face and asked him, "Who's she? I don't know any Maggies." Mark sighed and mocked them singing Grease Lightning. "Oh, yeah!!! I remember her! She was pretty cute..." Joanne gave her a look and Maureen continued, "As an outside opinion, Pookie."

Angel piped in and asked, "When's she supposed to come?"

"Uh," Mark started. "I'm not really sure, I just told her we were all meeting here this morning."

"Well, she's slept long enough! I'll go down and get her up, I have the key to her apartment."

"Why do you have her key?" Roger asked Angel curiously.

"In case she gets locked in her bathroom and can't get out and she yells down the street to me to come get her out." Everyone stared at her with slightly worried expressions except for Maureen who looked at her as if she had understood exactly why Maggie gave Angel her key. "I'll be back in a couple minutes." Angel exited the loft and everyone looked at each other silently with wide eyes.

Mimi broke the silence with a word that summed up everyone's thoughts, "Wow..."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Angel skipped down the two flights of stairs down to Maggie's apartment. She reached the door and knocked, quite loudly, before taking out her spare key and opening the door. The living room and kitchen area (connected and open to each other) were both empty spare the tie-dyed couch and kitchen...stuff... A blanket was laying over the couch and a book was flipped open next to it. Angel passed through the living room and entered Maggie's bedroom. Her mattress was shoved against the wall and Maggie was curled up in a ball under a bright green, fluffy blanket, and her red hair splayed all around her.

Angel held back a laugh as she walked over to the bed. "Maggie...Are you alive?" Maggie rolled over in her sleep in response. "Maggie! You have to get up! The monsters are going to get you! Ahhhhh!!!" Angel yelled at Maggie with no response. "Hmph..." Angel said. She then got a brilliant idea for her last resort. Angel gently put her hands on Maggie's shoulders and took a deep breath before shaking her and shouting, "EARTHQUAKE!"

"AHHHHH!!!" Maggie woke up and screamed when she saw Angel.

"Morning sunshine!" Angle said with a bright smile. "How are you this morning?"

"Angel, no offense, but what are you doing here?"

"Everyone's upstairs except for you so I volunteered to come get you. Now, up and at um' sweets! Its Christmas!" Maggie slowly got out of bed with a scowl and started heading towards the living room until she caught a glance at the clock on her wall.

"7:30? _7:30?! _Are you freakin' kidding me?"

Angel just giggled and walked into the kitchen. "There's aspirin upstairs but you might need something to drink." Angle grabbed a water bottle and filled it from the tap before continuing. "Its kinda chilly up there too so you might want to bring a blanket."

Maggie stared at Angel in awe and leaned against the couch. "Angel," she began. "It's 7:30 AM. Why in the world are you all up this early when I know for a fact most of you guys should be having killer hangovers right now."

"Well," Angel walked over to Maggie and handed her the blanket and water bottle. "It is the holidays. Now come on, your late enough already." Angel started to pull a struggling Maggie out her door.

"Whoa! Angel! Can I at least get my glasses and brush my teeth? I'm kinda blind at the moment and I'm sure my breath reeks..." Maggie pulled away from and Angel and retreated into the bathroom, Angel following close behind.

"I didn't know you had glasses," Angel said as she entered the bathroom, Maggie's toothbrush already in her mouth and green, angular glasses on her face.

"Yeah, I usually wear contacts but I'm not exactly in the right mood for those..." She spit her toothpaste into the sink and drank some water. "Can I change my clothes, Angel?"

"No, you've spent enough of our valuable time together getting ready, we're leaving now." Angel pulled her out the door again.

"But, Ang, I'm still in my pajamas!" Maggie said, suprised at the drag queen for not letting her change. She loved clothes so much, how could she make her go up to someone else's loft in her pjs?

"Yeah, I know, hun, but that's just too damn bad!" Angel laughed and pulled Maggie up two flights of stairs. They reached the landing on the top floor and Maggie closed her eyes, trying to get the dizzyness to disappear (to no avail) as Angel opened the door.


	8. Metallica vs ACDC

A/N: Hey, guys! I'm sorry about my last chapter, I know I sent you guys like 525,600 emails notifying the new chapter(...well...maybe I'm being a little dramatic...) because it wasn't working right and I had to add the chapter a couple times. Sorry bout that.

And by the way, I really appreciate reviews and my stomach gets all happy when I get one in my inbox! So thanks to everyone who's reviewed for me! You get bunches of cyber-hugs!

So, on with the chapter...

_They reached the landing on the top floor and Maggie closed her eyes, trying to get the dizzyness to disappear (to no avail) as Angel opened the door._

(Back to normal POV)

Everyone looked over at the door and saw a beaming Angel and a very tired Maggie with her eyes closed and still in her pajamas.

"Morning, Maggie!" Maureen said brightly.

Maggie opened her eyes and nodded at Maureen, muttering "Mhmm..." Mark grinned and patted the floor next to him. Maggie headed over to Mark while yawning, before plopping her butt down on the cold floor.

"Tired?" Mark asked her with a small grin.

"Uh-huh..." Maggie said before yawning again. "Bit of a headache too..."

Mark laughed and passed her some of the cereal he brought over from their table with the feast on it. Everyone else had just gotten up but Mark and Maggie stayed exactly where they were. Maggie ate some cereal and turned to look at Mark.

"And how are you, kind sir, feeling today?"

Mark smiled and said, "Well, alright I suppose. Although the wonderful wake up a la Collins made it less pleasant..." Maggie looked at him, her head cocked in a confused way.

_"God, she's pretty..." _Mark thought before shaking the thought out of his mind. _"You just met her, Cohen, lay off the horniness..."_

Maggie had since gotten up and grabbed her blanket that Angel had brought from her apartment. She walked back over and sat with Mark again. The other Bohemians were standing around the table listening to something Maureen and Roger were talking about. Maggie spread out the blanket and Mark looked over to Maggie. She was smoothing wrinkles out of the blanket on her lap. Maggie looked up, into Mark's eyes and smiled.

"Ya know, I don't think I've ever seen anyone blush that bright, Mark!" Roger entered the room along with everyone else. Maureen and Collins looked at each other and smirked. Angel looked at Maggie and raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. Maggie looked down and scratched the back of her neck nervously.

Everyone had found their seats again and were happily eating and talking, some quite loudly. Roger had come over to the couch and sat by Maggie, Mimi was busy talking rapidly in Spanish with Angel. Maggie and Roger were having an interesting and heated debate about...rock bands.

"Oh, no you didn't! Please tell me you did not just say that!"

"What? I just don't see what is so special about Metallica! You can't even understand what they're saying! And when you can, its complete and utter nonsen-" Maggie started before being interrupted by Roger.

He shook his head and started saying, "No, no, no, no, no. Metallica is a band of rock gods! They were nominated for a Grammy this year!"

"Yeah," Maggie started with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "But did they win?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Exactly."

Roger glared at her before asking, "Okay then, 'little miss rock and roll know it all,' who do you think is better than Metallica?"

"Well, basically everyone..." Roger glared again and Maggie laughed. "But if I had to pick the best group ever it would have to be AC/DC."

Roger looked at her with a blank face and slowly, in a deep voice, he asked her, "You seriously listen to that pile of shit rather than the band of gods, Metallica?"

Maggie looked at him with squinted eyes. "Oh, no you didn't..."

Mark sat beside Maggie, filming the whole discussion. He snickered quietly to himself before turning the camera on Maureen, Collins, Angel, and Mimi. Mimi and Angel were still speaking in Spanish so fast that no interpretter would ever be able to translate. Maureen and Collins however were speaking very loudly in clear English, laughing their asses off and rolling around on the floor.

"Okay, Collins, next time you go streaking make sure you invite me, I have very persuasive ways to get a 'get out of jail free' card for both of us!"' They both burst out laughing and rolled on the floor again. Joanne looked over at her girlfriend with a disapproving face. Neither Maureen or Colllins had noticed however and Collins continued.

"Yeah, maybe you can remind me to take off my white socks next time!" He howled with laughter and Maureen looked at him with tearfilled eyes, laughing her ass off.

"I can't believe you did that! You dumbass Collins!" They continued to laugh as Collins took a drag from his cigarrette.

"Well, I was a little doped up that day..." They continued to laugh as Mark turned off his camera and looked back at Maggie and Roger. Roger was standing, getting ready to head over to Mimi and interrupt her conversation with Angel and Maggie was looking at Mark with a smile before yawning.

"Who won the debate?" Mark asked with a smirk.

"We made a piece agreement and decided that the 2nd best group of all time is R.E.M. as weird as they are."

"Thats a long jump from AC/DC and Metallica," Mark said while laughing.

"Yeah, but they're awesome and thats all that matters." Maggie smiled and with a matter-of-fact tone told him, "We also agreed that I won't play AC/DC when he's around and he won't play that shit called Metallica-"

"I heard that!" Roger yelled across the loft to her.

"Good! Its about time you knew the truth!"

"Oh, I'm just gonna go in my room and cry now," Roger told her before they both started laughing.

"Wow," Mimi told Angel. "And they think we're the ones having weird conversations..."


End file.
